Bible Strands
Ezekiel 8:12
“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Ezekiel immediately after the prophet witnesses seventy elders of Israel holding censers and burning incense to idols. The vision occurs inside the temple courtyard at a moment of revealed corporate apostasy.
The words — The Hebrew הֲ/רָאִ֣יתָ (ha./ra.'I.ta) literally means "have you seen" and functions as a direct prompt demanding visual confirmation of the elders' idolatrous actions.
The thread — The declaration that God does not see or has forsaken the land recurs in Isaiah 29:15 and Ezekiel 9:9. Ezekiel 8:13 and 8:15 frame this claim within a sequence of escalating abominations that Yahweh commands the prophet to observe.
Why it lands — The text states that idolaters operate under the false presumption of divine invisibility. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human claims of abandonment do not alter the reality of God's active observation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 29:15 Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”
- Ezekiel 9:9 He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’
- Ezekiel 8:15 “Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Yet you will see even greater abominations than these.”
- Psalms 10:11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.”
- John 3:19 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
- Ephesians 5:12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
- Job 22:12 Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!
- Job 24:13 Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
- Psalms 94:7 They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”
- Ezekiel 8:6 “Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what they are doing—the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing—to drive Me far from My sanctuary? Yet you will see even greater abominations.”